Loading bridge



H. DIAMONIQ LOADING BRIDGE Sept. 5, 1950 Filed Aug. 1, 1946 PatentedSept. 5, `1950 fom'rso STATE-s PATENT o'FFICE assi-,34.9 Y

LOADING BRIDGE Harry Diamond, lilizaletltbl.. J- Application August1,371i946,l Serial No. 687,559 sfolafms. 01.. ifi-.721i 'Y Thisinvention relates to loading bridges and more particularly to removableloading bridges j ladapted to be taken from one place. to another..

The principal. Vole-ject of this, invention.v is the provision of aloading bridge which isaclaptedito be .moved by means of a small truckhatingv a tiiistyfpe @rating a truolahavng a forked. elevator mayliit ,g

.up the. bridge, oarrvvit from one point to another and` then deoosit itinto oherativeposition.. device. has been developed for use. in Natal.-ine stallations and itY hassuccessfullybeen osez-iisr suchinstallations.

Another object of this invention is. the profile sion of a. loadingbridge. of the character described which is adapted toeren thesooshetwceil loadingv and unloading nlatiorms however wide or 2 Forthesame purpose anv I-beam il is also welded to theplatelll. Weldecltothe side edges of the plate t are a pair of stringe-rs or side rails. orguards. 2E. '.Aflixed vto one end of saidv stringere and .aicsed also tothe endso the I-beam Il .are a pair of .vertically disposed pockets 2 l.At the opposite. enclsoi--the stringers. 2i! are affixed pins 22 andmounted on said pins are a pair of flanged looking liars 23.. Theopposite ends ofjsaid lock# ing bars extend into. theV side pockets 2iand are adapted, to float freely therein. on vertical lines.

These locliii bars., 2.3. on their. flanged portions v .are each or@ded; witha serios oi holes is ei;-

narrow these gaps may be Within of course rear sonable. limitations... Y

A further object of; this invention istlieerovision of a loadias, bridgeofthe cha t ,r described which is. assisted to. he used between. two.eletF ier-ms. which. are located at diiorvnt levels, grotend-ills;,Substantially their' foil. length. Looking pins are adapted to, extendin part into.. and tls-rough; said holes. It will oe seen inll'ig. 3.that ,g i. these locking pins. are somewhat U-shaped and that theyliave-.voee'long and one short leg, the two legs beingreadilyvpositionedi relative to each other; bymeans ofcrossplate- 2l.They two legs are so spaced that theyale adapted to enter adjoiningholes 2i. io the locking hars 23.

The loading bridge. hereinabove described. may heuscd as shown in Fig.Stor example. In said .ligure the bridge is shown. extending from a lowplatform 3.@ to a high. platform 3l. The loading `bridge is sopositioned that the pivoted ends of prior soglie-ation .tiled Li-laesst.10, 19t-4. vbribe same applicant and bearing. Serial No. 548,910asesinos. abandon troiette@ esiliati-merits: of this. invention areshown, the accompanying drawingl ilo` which;

Eis... 1. is; a elan; tiew: of. a. loading. herein claimed; j

Fig. 2, is a sectional View therethrough on the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sidegiet/otsaidlloading bridge;

Fig. 'i is a plan view, in enlarged detail, of one of the liftinghandles by which alforkecl truck; may raise, carry and. lower thesaid'loading bridge;

Fig. 5 is a sectionalview. on-theline E-- of Fig. 6 a second form el",vlifting handle,l a front view oithe handle being shown; and

brides as e.

Eig,A G, l-saV sectional View on the line 6 6 of Referring now to Figs.,l. to 4., inclusive, it Will he. seerrthat the loading; Abridgehereinclaimed at one end l! and `which; is cor-vedi less emnomoeoiyaiits@sostegno is.

tr locking barsi are situatedadjacent the lower platform andthe floatingends thereof. adjacent the higher platform. The force of gravity acting.upon the freely oating endsv of said. locking bars carries themdownwardly until they rest against the bottom. ci the side pockets 2l.In this position the locking bars. are more. nearly parallel to the topsnr'acesof the two platforms. Such being the casawhen the. looking Apins25. are inserted into appropriate holes 3ft of the locking bars; thesepins engage the verticalside or edge ofthe lower platform 3o, onsubstantially vertical lines. In.V other Words the' pins aresubstantially aligned with the vertical edge of the lower plat..- fjQlm.This makes for 'a safe, non-slip` engageyment;betj-iie.ony the pins. andthe lower platform.,

It will he seen particularly in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 'that the' loadingbridge above described is pro.- 'vid'ed'jwith a pair of' liftingvhandles 4.8.v These lifting handles are substantially U-shaped' and theyare pvoted' at the. free ends-of their legs by means of pins 4! to theadjacent longitudinal ribs.. It?,V These. handles are enclosed, when in'inoperative position, within a pair of pockets 42. llfshaped OpeningsAlin the. plate H1 Whichregis.- ter `fvtith the l.l.shapedv handles. 40whenY these .handles arevr in.: inoperative. position provide., the.openings-'imm which these handles may .he raised inta ogierativolposition. is. clearly. sho-,Wn` in side of plate It to reinforce andstrengthen it. .ligqll- .1.IlhesegU'-sl'tapeil. Slots are. enlargediatto provide room for the fingers when it is desired to raise the handles40 into operative position. The dot and dash lines 46 in Fig. 2 show theoperative position of said handles. It will be seen that this operativeposition is substantially perpendicular with respect to the plate I0.

The spacing of the two handles corresponds to the spacing of the twoarms which constitute the fork of trucks having conventional forkshapedlifting apparatus. The two handles 40 when in the dot and dash positionshown in Fig. 2, are adapted to receive the two arms oi these trucks. Itis a simple matter therefore to carry the loading bridge above describedfrom one place to another.

In Figs. 5 and 6 another form of lifting handle is shown, to wit, thehandle bearing character references 50. This handle like handle 40 is ofU-shape. It is not pivoted however and the free ends of its two arms areatxed to a plate 5|. Handle 50 is carried within a pocket 52 axed to thebottom of the loading bridge. A slot 54 in the top plate of the loadingbridge provides the passageway through which the handle 50 may be movedfrom the inoperative position shown by means of the solid lines in Fig.6 to the operative position shown by means of the dotted lines 55 insaid Fig. 6.

It will be seen in Fig. 5 that when the handle is in its inoperativeposition it is supported by a bracket 57. In Fig. 6 a iianged bracket 58is shown which supports the handle when it is in operative position. Asshown in said ligure, the plate 5I of the handle 56 is adapted to restupon the flange of anged bracket 58, in order to support the handle inthe operative position indicated by the dotted lines 55. In all otherrespects the loading bridge shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is similar to thatshown in the first four gures.

It will be understood that this device may be modied in accordance withdiierent requirements without any departure from the essentialprinciples of the invention. For example, the

4several major parts of the loading bridge have been described as beingwelded to each other. It will be appreciated that any other method ofaixing one part to another may be used.

I claim:

l. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a locking bar pivoted atone end to the side of the loading plate near one end of the plate andextending along the side of the plate toward the other end thereof, saidlocking bar having a plurality of holes therein and a locking pindisposed in one of said holes, the weight of the locking bar tending toswing the pin against an adjacent vertical surface of a loadingplatform.

2. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a locking bar pivoted atone end to the side of the loading plate near one end of the plate andextending along the side of the plate and toward the other end thereof,a locking pin, and means to adjust the locking pin along the locking baras desired, the weight of the locking bar tending to swing the pinagainst an adjacent vertical surface of a loading platform.

3. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a locking bar pivoted atone end to the side of the loading plate near one end of the plate andextending along the side of the plate and toward the other end thereof,said locking bar having a plurality of holes therein and a locking pindisposed in one of said holes, the weight of the locking bar tending toswing the pin against an adjacent verticalsurface of a loading plat- 4form, and a pocket element disposed at the side of the loading platewith an open face receiving the end of the locking bar to guard andguide the same in its vertical free movement.

4. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a locking bar pivoted atone end to the side of the loading plate near one end of the plate andextending along the side ofthe plate and toward s the other end thereof,a locking pin, means to adjust the locking pin along the locking bar asdesired, the weight of the locking bar tending to -swing the pin againstan adjacent wall of a loading platform, and a pocket element disposed atthe side of the loading plate with an open face receiving the end of thelocking bar to guard and guide the same in its vertical free movement.

5. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a flanged locking barpivoted at one end to the side of the loading plate near one end of theplate and extending along the side of the plate and toward the other endthereof, said locking bar having a plurality of holes along its iiangedportion, and a locking pin disposed in one of said holes, the weight ofthe locking bar tending to swing the pin against an adjacent surface ofa loading platform.

6. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a anged locking barpivoted at one end to the side of the loading plate near one end of theplate and extending along the side of the plate and toward the other endthereof, said locking bar having a plurality of holes along its angedportion, a locking pin disposed in one of said holes, the weight of thelocking bar tending to swing the pin against an adjacent surface of aloading platform, and a pocket element disposed at the side of theloading plate with an open face receiving the end of the locking bar toguard and guide the same in its vertical free movement.

7. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a hanged locking barpivoted to the side of the loading plate near one end of the plate witha series of holes in the anged portion thereof, a U-shaped locking pin,the ends of the legs thereof extending through the holes in said angedportion.

8. A loading bridge comprising a loading plate, a flanged locking barpivoted to the side of the loading plate near one end of the plate witha series of holes in the flanged portion thereof, a U-shaped locking pinhaving legs of unequal length extending through adjacent holes in saidhanged portion, and a cross plate extending between said legs to limitthe extension of said legs into said holes.

HARRY DIAMOND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Bryson Oct. 26, 1948

